Paradise VII: Closer to Heaven
by Dakk Tribal
Summary: If heaven was a real place, even with what would be seen as impossible, then Zack may have found it, and he is happily not alone / Zack Aerith fluff, with a lemon maybe in a later chapter
1. Chapter 1

'Is that…the ocean?'

Zack slowly sat up, feeling like he was floating on clouds before he realized that he was lying on a fluffy feather bed. The smell of the salt water nearby was further complicated by the sound of the waves. "Strange…" He stretched his arms over his head and looked around.

That was where things got stranger.

The room he found himself in was huge, with three doors and only a circular wooden table for furniture besides the bed he was on right now. The walls and ceiling was white while the carpet was deep red.

Getting up off the bed Zack took a few steps towards the glass doors near the bed when a person walked through them. It was a woman wearing a light pink dress with black outline and slightly puffy sleeves and the skirt going to her ankles. She was a brunette with her hair in a tail that reached her waist, and it was tied with a pink ribbon. She had a handful of yellow flowers in her hands and placed them in an empty vase on the table, silver bracelets dangling from her wrists. When she finally noticed Zack all she did was smile at him.

He knew exactly who it was.

"Aerith?!"

She stood up straight, hands on her stomach, "Zack…"

Not knowing what was going on, Zack stood on shaky knees, and he would have fallen had Aerith not run up and wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face against his chest and held onto him tightly.

Getting over the shock quickly enough, Zack put his arms around Aerith, and right now he didn't care what happened, he was with her and that was all that mattered to him.

"Sorry it took me so long to get to you," he said with a rather shaky voice.

Aerith pulled back to look up at him, her emerald green eyes welling up with barely contained tears, "Better late than never."

"You ain't kidding there—" that's when he suddenly remembered. "Wait…aren't we, you know…" He stopped short of finishing what he wanted to say. Not just because he didn't want to ruin the happiness that Aerith had for him, but also because she pressed her fingers to his lips to silence him. She knew what he was going to say and refused to hear any of it.

"Let us have this moment."

Feeling the emotions well up inside himself, Zack couldn't say anything further. In fact words were not needed now. He brought his hands to gently cradle her face, the tears finally falling from her eyes as he kissed her.

Years of unchecked emotion had come back and washed over them like a tidal wave, and for many reasons it felt right to be with each other again, and no one would deny them of that wish.

The kiss lasted for no more than a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity, one they repeated over and over again until at last they needed air. All the while the tears kept flowing from Aerith, going down her cheeks and neck. Zack used his thumbs to gently wipe them away.

Sniffling was heard, and at first Zack thought it was from Aerith, but when he glanced up he saw a furry little moogle floating in the air, his little hands up to his little black eyes.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to intrude, kupo…*sniffle*"

Zack lowered his hands to rest of Aerith's upper arms. Aerith turned her body towards the moogle. She remained in a state of bliss and didn't seem upset with the moogle for ruining the moment. If anything she felt concern for the creature. "It's okay…what's wrong?"

"…my name is Mogina, I'm a servant at this resort, kupo…" through the sniffling she gave the moogle motioned to the cart behind her. It was silver and lined with dishes of varying sizes. "…I didn't want to bother you but breakfast is served, kupo."

Aerith turned back to Zack, her cheeks still wet from all the tears, and gave him a look that told him they'd finish where they left off later.

On his part Zack wasn't disappointed. Despite the circumstances he didn't let it get to him. In fact, looking at the cart made him slightly hungry. "Breakfast huh…"

Aerith smiled up at him, "We'll talk more after breakfast, okay?"

"Sounds like a date to me," he said optimistically.

Even after being gone for so long, Aerith appreciated his attitude.


	2. Chapter 2

Feeling really great after eating such a full breakfast, especially after being reunited with Aerith, Zack felt eager to go out onto the island. Aerith had let him go, saying she'd meet with him once she was ready.

Before he left he said he'd wait for her outside the building. The resort gave him a pair of swim shorts to wear (free of charge, thankfully) and after changing into them he went out to the beach. Thankfully he wore nothing but the shorts. The sun was scorching hot, much more than at Costa del Sol, and it didn't take long for Zack to try and find some shade. There was a tree line that led into a jungle that provided just what he needed.

Though he got out of the sun he quickly found out that the humidity of the jungle was even worse. He was already sweating buckets and he hadn't been in the jungle for five minutes!

"Can't I ever catch a break?" He thought as he went into the thick of the trees and other plant life.

The jungle was thick, with the canopy almost entirely covered by trees yet there were a few areas where the rays of the sun snuck through. Trees of varying shapes and sizes reached into the sky and none of them were recognizable to the former-SOLDIER.

Feeling bored just walking, Zack decided to climb a tree, climbing up a limb that was able to hold him while he chilled at least a dozen feet or so off the ground. Only a guy like Zack could relax in such a situation, though he was normally a hyperactive young man otherwise.

He couldn't see far from where he sat on the limb thanks to the thickness of the jungle, so he went back down and went along the paths marked by the moogles, and after taking a detour into a darker area he saw a familiar sight.

The area was dark but a single wide ray of sunshine came down on a wider patch of yellow and white flowers.

Walking up to the patch, Zack knelt down and was immediately hit with memories. Images of his time back in Midgar flooded his mind, seeing this sort of place in a church in Sector 5.

"How long has it been since that time…" he thought. He sat down and stared at the flowers, his thoughts wandered off and he failed to notice someone walk up to him.

"So this is where you went."

The sound of the feminine voice stirred Zack from his thoughts. He turned and looked to see who it was, and a single little ray of sunlight pierced the canopy.

Like a gift from heaven the shining light made Aerith more angelic in appearance, making her smile seem more precious than words could describe.

"Now there's an angel," he said, only half kidding.

Aerith giggled and shook her head, "Nope, just me."

Zack sighed and got on his feet. He turned to face his girlfriend, and stopped in his tracks. Aerith was wearing a two piece bikini that was colored light pink, held together by light knots on her hips and her back. She also wore a shear red jacket to help protect her skin from the sun, though now it just stuck to her from all the sweat. Her pink hair ribbon remained tied. Her skin was damp from the humidity of the jungle, but unlike Zack she didn't seem to be bothered by it. Nor was she bothered by how he was looking at her with mouth agape. Not that she could blame him, she never wore anything like this since she had lived in the slums her whole life and never had the pleasure of going to a beach before.

Zack closed his mouth, but still stared. Aerith looked more beautiful than ever now, and while his attraction to her was as real as it could get, he'd be lying if he said he didn't like her swimsuit showing her body.

Aerith caught his stare, "Mogina chose this for me. Said it brought out the color in my eyes a bit more, though I think she was being nice." Aerith raised her hands above her and stretched.

"You feel comfortable in that?" Zack asked, trying to be nice, as he had never seen Aerith in such an outfit before.

Aerith nodded, "It's certainly different, right?" She smiled before taking a few steps forward into the patch of flowers. "What are the odds of us finding a place like this in this jungle?"

Zack shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know, probably about as good as our chances of finding this place again after we leave."

She knelt down in the flowers, sitting down in the center of the patch. She beckoned to Zack, hoping he'd join her. He didn't need further convincing. Carefully he walked through the patch, avoiding stepping on any of the flowers, and sat down next to her.

Aerith caressed a yellow flower carefully, "Mogina told me about all the places to visit on the island. There's so much we can do, and only seven days to do anything."

Zack nodded the idea of exploring the island sounded good, though something told him it was too big to do in one day. "We'll have to plan our week carefully so we don't miss anything."

"Zack…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad we're having this time together," Aerith said, her voice sounding like it was beginning to crack. "Since we never had that much before."

Not wanting to see her cry Zack made a drastic measure. He moved himself around and laid his head on Aerith's lap. She was taken by surprise, but welcomed the action of affection.

Zack took a big breath, "Our time together was still great, regardless of how short it was."

Aerith nodded in agreement, and placed her hand on Zack's chest, her mind easing with the feeling of his heartbeat.


	3. Chapter 3

"Curfew is in effect, Mister Mog, and all the guests are in the hotel, kupo."

The staff of the resort was finishing up their rounds, putting papers away and cleaning up the desks while making sure everything was ready for the following morning. There was even a moogle checking the weather forecast for the next seven days, making sure the weather was in optimal conditions for a tropical vacation.

Mister Mog was floating around with his entourage of smaller moogles getting updates from them. For one moogle to run a resort was indeed a daunting challenge Mog didn't show any signs of stress at the job. He had been running it for a very long time, and had yet to run into something that would drive him nuts. Save for Kupo Nuts, that is.

He checked off a request form another moogle had offered him and moved onto another pressing matter. "By the way, I heard that the rocks behind the waterfall are cracking, kupo."

The smaller moogle named Mooge nodded, "Yes sir, kupo! Seems the gradual disintegration of the water on the rocks is making it crack."

"Why hadn't I been notified of this before? This could pose a threat to our guests, kupo!"

"We only discovered it today, kupo! A few guests notified us of rocks falling in the lagoon and we inspected it later in the afternoon. We plan to block off a section of the lagoon as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of everyone, kupo. After that we will begin working to make it stable again."

Mog sighed, "Well, least we found it before it crashed. Things could be a lot worse, kupo."

The two moogles then heard squeaking that gave them the impression that something was off. The moogle behind the large computer screen was going bonkers. So much so that his pom-pom looked like it would fly off any moment, "Mister Mog! We have a problem, kupo!"

Quickly the moogles all gathered around the desk but moved out of Mog's way when he approached, "What is it, kupo?" Going through his mind was all sorts of calamitous problems that could be the problem: ships discovering the island, an eidolon emerging from within the island, or even a swarm of vegetarian bugs that could eat the island's vegetation all went through his mind. However, none of those turned out to be the problem.

The smaller moogle brought a picture of a nasty looking storm heading towards the island, "It's terrible, kupo! Tropical storm fast approaching!"

The other moogles gave signs of panic but Mog remained steadfast.

"I see...and it doesn't look like it is going to miss us either, kupo..." There had been threats of tropical storms and hurricanes in the past but by multiple strokes of luck the resort had always been spared. This time the storm seemed to be heading right for it with no sign of diverting its path. What bothered Mog however was how fast the storm had formed; it was like it had come from out of nowhere.

"How long until it gets here, kupo?"

The moogle typed away at the keyboard and kept its eyes on the computer screen, "This time tomorrow night it will be at our doorstep, kupo. We should have visuals on it by sunrise though. We'll get the full force of it when it arrives, kupo!"

Another moogle approached the desk, "What should we do sir? We might have to lock down the island and keep everyone inside-"

Mog wasn't paying attention to anyone around him. Not out of panic or nervousness, the gears in his head were turning and protocols for such an event were beginning to be made in his mind.

He knew what needed to be done. "Nobody panic. I know what to do, kupo. It will take all night but we can do it, kupo."

After curfew had been announced Zack and Aerith returned to their room, though it wasn't without some form of reluctance from Zack. It took only a little bit of persuasion from Aerith to make him move, promising him they could continue where they left off later.

That got his heart racing and his feet moving.

When they got back to their room Aerith was the first to notice a change in the place.

A silver serving cart was stationed near the table while there were two paper bags on the table itself. Placing her red jacket on the back of a chair Aerith noticed that the bags were addressed to them. She took the one that had her name on it and peeked inside.

"Oh, it's a change of clothes."

Zack meanwhile had gone to inspect the cart, and he could instantly smell the steak that was the main course. His mouth began to water even before his eyes had been laid upon the morsel. "This...is gonna be a good dinner."

He couldn't wait to sink his teeth into it.

Too bad Aerith had to put the rain on his proverbial parade. "Not until after you wash off the dirt and sand, mister." She handed him the bag of clothes addressed to him.

Zack's expression was one of disappointment. He knew she was right about him being dirty but the food was almost too good to pass up and he liked his meals hot. Still, he tried to defend himself, "C'mon Aerith-"

She would have none of it however. She pushed Zack towards the bathroom door, "Shower first Zack, then you can eat. And please hurry, I'd like to take a bath."

"We could always save some time and take one together-" he had spoken without thinking and didn't realize what he had said until it was too late. For a second he thought he had heard Aerith gasp before she shoved him into the bathroom and closed the door when she left.

It had taken Zack only a few minutes to take his shower but even after he had gotten out he didn't touch his food until after Aerith had had her bath.

When she came out she was dressed in a white night gown that left her shoulders bare and was sleeveless. Her hair was no longer tied up and was instead free flowing passed her shoulders.

The impact of her beauty made Zack have his mouth open for the second time that day.

She smiled, "Zack, you're starring again."

Clearing his throat the former SOLDIER didn't try to defend himself, "Couldn't help it. Thought I was looking at an angel."

The two went about their meal, which was something Zack was dying to dig into. There was a steak for him, but for Aerith she had the main salad and slice of pie for dessert. Her appetite was dwarfed by her boyfriend's.

After eating the moogle arrived to grab the cart, and did so in a rush.

After the creature had left Aerith had gone to sit down on the bed. The lights went off with a simple clap of her hands. She was beginning to feel tired from everything that had happened today and sleep seemed to be a comforting thought.

While usually full of energy Zack was in the same boat as her and went to sit on the bed. The air was pretty warm still and so he didn't bother getting under the covers. Aerith did the same as she remained lying down with her hands on her stomach, watching Zack as he got close to her.

"So…what should we do tomorrow?" asked her boyfriend.

Aerith turned to look up at the ceiling and took a slow exhale, "Really not sure. There's plenty to enjoy from what I have seen so far…but…"

"Hmm?"

She looked him straight in the eyes, her expression one of pure joy, "I'm glad you're here with me."

Her answer touched his heart. Zack moved in closer to her and held her close, "So am I…"

No other words were needed for now, and before they knew it, both had drifted off to sleep.


	4. Picnic

"Looks like we're going to have to stay inside for the foreseeable future…"

Zack's words hit Aerith like a brick wall. The weather outside, while cooling off considerably had a major downside in that that dark grey clouds were beginning to form and the wind was starting to pick up. The flower girl had gotten dressed for a day outside, wearing a pink sundress with white daisies along the bottom of the skirt and even a summer chic hat to protect her from the sun. Zack was in a similar boat having only worn black shorts and sunglasses. The two had been ready to leave when Zack had opened the doors to the balcony to air out the room while they were gone. It was then that he had noticed the ominous storm clouds fast approaching the island, and with its arrival ended the couple's dream of a pleasant day.

It hurt Aerith the most, the loss of the sun put a slight damper on her usually sunny disposition. "Darn it…" She went back inside and set the picnic basket she had meticulously put together earlier that morning on the table. Looks like it was all for nothing.

Trying to cheer up his girlfriend Zack sat down at the table and had an idea. "How about we just have our picnic in here?"

Aerith looked at him with a questionable look. "How?"

Zack grabbed the handle of the basket went to the balcony door. Instead of going outside he set the basket down before in front of it. "We lay out the blanket out here and enjoy the view…though it isn't a pretty sunrise or a good view anyway, but it's better than nothing, right?"

Though she had wondered how she was going to salvage her dream of a picnic, an indoor one, especially with Zack's input made Aerith smile. "Sounds lovely."

He pulled out a blanket and laid it out on the carpet while Aerith grabbed the vase of flowers the moogle had brought to the room earlier and placed on the floor next to the blanket. It was an added bit of flair to the scene, to make up for the flora they were now unable to have going outside.

"That storm seemed to come out of nowhere, huh," said Zack as he sat down on the blanket. Aerith quickly joined him, sitting down next to him.

"Sure did, though I guess a storm in a tropical paradise like this would not be too out of the question." She looked out at the window just in time to see a streak of lightning come down from the clouds. From the looks of the storm it would be at the island in under an hour, and from where the two lovers sat they could hear the howling winds but also the commotion the moogles were creating in their panic. Clearly they were not prepared for the storm as they had thought and now they had to scramble to make up for their lost time.

Aerith felt sorry for them, "How is it they can run this place by themselves?"

"They seem good at it despite their size, though I honestly can't answer that either."

The two inched closer together under their shoulders were touching, and then they made eye contact. That was when they noticed the only benefit of not being outside and that was they were in a truly private space.

It clicked for Zack extremely quickly and he made the first move. He brought a hand to caress Aerith's Cheek before he kissed her. She eagerly accepted his passionate act but surprised him by slowly descending to the blanket and taking him with her. Not that the former SOLDIER had any issue with this as he laid her beneath him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close. For long moments they kissed, not speaking a word even as the thunder rumbled from the coming storm. Not a picture perfect scene of romance, a young couple making out with a fierce tropical storm in the background, but to them it was as close to perfect as they could possibly get.

Parting their lips to catch a breather, Aerith's chest heaved as she smiled. "That didn't take long…"

"What can I say but I love you so much?" He cheekily replied. He didn't see himself as impatient with his girlfriend but the fact that they hadn't been sitting down long enough before he had proceeded to make out with her betrayed him. He tried to hide it behind fancy, yet truthful words.

Aerith didn't mind him, however. "That's fine, I wanted to kiss you anyway." She lowered her arms and she felt his hands rubbing her shoulders, his thumbs caressing the base of her neck. That and he played with the shoulder straps of her dress as well, like he was asking for permission but couldn't bring up any words to do so. This the young woman did mind, and she placed her hands over his own. "No."

Resting his forehead against hers Zack sighed, knowing her answer was law in this situation. "Got it, just thought I could go a bit further."

Holding her hand was okay. Hugging her was alright. Kissing her was great, even encouraged on her part. However, Aerith drew a line at going to that potential second base and the mythical third base, even with Zack. She didn't feel ready. Not yet.

Not that she blamed Zack for trying to go that far, they had been together for a long while before he had left for Nibelheim and even had he returned after that she would have made him wait.

Though she did know that she would reward him someday, he just had to be patient.

He had plenty of that, though he hid it behind playful disappointment. "You play so hard to get at times I can't help myself."

She giggled, "Just let us have our time, okay?"

Thunder rumbled outside and a bright flash of lightning got Zack's attention, "Sheesh…that was loud."

Aerith remained on the floor and Zack began to move, and only stopped when his head was resting on her chest. She put her hands on his head, and she smiled as he listened to her heartbeat. She gently hushed him, caressing his hair and listening to the thunder overhead.

For the longest time they remained there, alternating between small talk and passionate kissing, and Zack refrained from trying to go any further than that without Aerith's permission.


End file.
